Present Perfect – Past Participles

Present perfect crossword

50 top verb cards

Give pairs or threes of students a set of Top 50 Verb Cards. Ask them to write what they think is the past participle of the verb on the back of the card. As they are doing the end of the task, go around the groups and check the cards which have been written and put a line through any that are wrong. Have the learners continue to submit the cards until they all have the correct form on the back.

Now have the groups place their deck of cards face up on the desk. They should take it in turns to take the top card and make a present perfect sentence using the verb. If they can’t remember the past participle then they can turn over the card to check. Continue until all the cards have been used.

Present Perfect – Unfinished Time / Life Experience

How long have you …?

Good for practising the question form as well as for/since answers. Students ask each other do you …? questions and attempt to elicit a positive answer and then they follow up with a how long have you …? question.

For example:

Do you have a dog?

– Yes, I do

How long have you had a dog?

– for about 5 years

Have you … this week?

Divide the board into two and write finished-time at the top of one section and unfinished-time at the top of the other. Read out the finished and unfinished time phrases and have students tell you which side of the board to write them. You can add further examples to each side.

Elicit examples of questions which can be asked for each side, i.e., past simple and present perfect.

Give pairs of learners a set of unfinished-time phrases. They should take it in turns to take a card and then ask their partner a present perfect question which they think will elicit a positive answer. For example, today: have you cleaned your teeth today?

In the following class repeat the exercise but with the finished-time phrases added to the deck thus forcing learners to switch tenses depending on the phrase.

Stand up if you’ve ever/never …

One of my favourite games to play, this activity encourages students to talk about their life experiences and often reveals interesting stories.

Before you play, you can use this handout as a more controlled practice and refresh activity.

The aim of the game is to be the only person standing by sharing life experiences and inviting other students to stand if they’ve also had the same experience.

First, demonstrate the game using some examples from your own life. For example:

Stand up if you’ve ever flown in a helicopter.

Stand up if you’ve ever been to Disneyland

Stand up if you’ve never eaten a hamburger

If you manage to be the only person standing for one of your examples, you would get a point.

Now, give the learners five to ten minutes to think of three experiences from their own lives which they can use in the game.

Write the name or initials of each student on the board in a line on the board. This is where you will keep track of the points total for each player.

The first player makes their first stand up if… statement and gets to their feet. If they are the only student standing they get a point. Mark the point on the board under their name and move on to the next player.

Go round the class two or three times and make sure to encourage questions about some of the stories as you uncover them.

The winner is the student with the most points under their name at the end.

Talking about trends – with graphs

Draw four simple charts on the board. One showing an upward trend, one a downward trend, one fluctuating, and one steady.